From COVID Crisis to Community Hub: How Malana Maher Reinvented Her Career at 71

[0:00]  What's been the biggest like hardest leadership lesson that you had to learn the hard way if any? Oh Lord, that I can't be everything to everybody. That is probably the biggest thing for me because I try to be I try to help everybody. I try to do everything myself. I sometimes feel like I have like a control issue on on how things look and so forth, but uh I I can't do it all. And and that kind of comes with my, you know, recent thinking about succession planning that I I'm not going to be here forever. I can't do everything. And that is very difficult for me to admit. And I'm sure

[0:50]  it is for a lot of people, too. Um, we want to do everything and we want to do everything perfectly and we want it to be great, but we can't all do it by ourselves. And we have to count on those individuals that we can partner with and that we have relationships with to carry not just the organization forward, but everybody in our community forward. You know, we have to do this all together. I think I mentioned this before that we don't call our organization because we have a lot of people that do the same thing more or less with different tweaks in each business, but we don't believe in competition. We call it co-opetition. And how are we saying that? Yeah, it's kind of funny because they'll say it at meetings. Don't forget we're all about co-opetition.

[1:52]  Welcome back to another episode of the Heart and Hustle podcast. We have another great leader. And if you ever met someone whose entire life story feels like it was just meant to prepare them for the work they do, that's Melena. from being raised by her grandparents read leading a movement in aging care. Her story is going to shift the way you look at community. So, let's get straight into it. Meena, how you doing? I'm fabulous today. How are you?

[2:18]  Wonderful. And I want to start off by saying and letting people know she's a great grandmother and she is still out in the community doing the damn thing. Okay. There's nothing stopping her. Uh so, could we kind of start on how you got started? What are you doing? What is the organization about? tell us want to know. Well, um I am the president and founder of an organization called Aging Connections. Uh the legal name is Aging Connections of Michigan.

[2:48]  um kind of history is um I started with a networking group um that we used to joke during the networking group and I'd say gee, you know, if I could figure out a way to make this into a business, I think this would be so much fun. So, we would meet once a week. We'd all sit in a big circle. Everybody would introduce themselves. Sometimes we would have a guest speaker. Um but the main purpose of the networking was you know there's always networking groups out there and um it was to promote each other's business and the services that they provide. And I always would say you know the more often we get together um the better we get to know each other

[3:36]  we build up those relationships and build trust so that when we're out in the communities we're like each other's little sales minions. you know, we're out there helping uh individuals find resources, and we may not always know the person that they need, but we always know who we can call. We've got this tight group that we can always call them and say, "I have somebody that needs something who can help me." So, it's it's building trust. And that's how we have to take care of our seniors. It can't be we're in silos working alone.

[4:12]  We have to work all together to be able to make our communities work and take care of our seniors. I was gonna say, yeah, definitely keep take care of our seniors. It's, you know, the the life circle, right? We take care of our kids and then we and we sometimes forget about those seniors. Um, and I think what's so cool now is that I've been speaking to so many people just like yourself that are not forgetting about our seniors and how important it is to still be active in their lives because one of the biggest things that kind of brought some clarity was this this senior at one point in their life where they they were a mom. They were still probably mom and dad but they had community around them. Their kids, sisters and brothers and as they continue to age, those kids go on in their own separate ways. you know, brothers and sisters either are not with us or maybe they're out across the world

[5:00]  somewhere and and we forget that seniors need loving. They need that they need that attention. They need to make sure that as they're still here on earth that they're being treated fairly, that someone's looking after them, that we're setting um you know, the the thing that I I don't like to talk about, what is death going to look like? Yeah. You know, having those conversations. You know, I remember my mom, we were we were all feeling the same way. And mom said, "Hey, I want to have a conversation with all you guys. It's really important."

[5:27]  And at that moment, we're already thinking like, "Okay." And then she gets, you know, we're in the room and she starts telling about, "Hey, if you know something, if I was to pass, I just want you guys to know who's going in charge of what, who's going to do what." It's not a conversation you want to have. Yeah. Right. With with your mom or dad. But it's a thing that is so kind of I would say not common and it should be.

[5:49]  Do you agree? Oh, absolutely. And it's so funny that you brought this up because I was with a a wonderful woman yesterday and she's in her mid to late 80s and she was talking about how she sat down to her family and to have the conversation and her husband's position they moved a lot. So, they live in this area now and uh she has had her eye on a villa here locally that she thought it would be perfect for she and her husband to move into. And so at Thanksgiving, holiday time, she sat her family down to tell them that they were interested in buying this villa. Um that this was their dream villa. They love the area. And the children did they

[6:38]  didn't accept it. They were not happy with their parents' choice. And she was so funny. She said, "Well, go have a cocktail and then come back and we're going to start this conversation over because this is where we're going and this is what makes us happy and this is what we're going to do." So, I just thought that was hysterical. But yeah, the conversation is very difficult to have. Uh people don't like to think about the end and leaving this earth, which we're all going to do. Um but I know like my husband and I have been in the planning process. We just updated our wills. Um I'm trying to connect everything together and put it in a box for my family so if anything happened um they

[7:27]  would know where to go and to find the information. you know, pre-planned our funeral. All these little things that you postpone, you don't want to think about, but is oh so important because you never know what can happen and when it would happen and it can just come out of the out of the blue and then your family's stuck trying to figure out what to do. Yeah, me and that's why anytime that someone asked me how am I doing, it's blessed. And the best line I've actually heard the other day, he says, "I'm good. I woke up on the right side of the dirt." And when he said that, I'm like, "Yeah, you're right." Right. Like that was so good. We have to be blessed.

[8:08]  We have to because you just don't know, right? And that's why these conversations are are are really um important. But I really want to kind of talk about um I want to go back a little bit. I want to go back to the upbringing. Yours wasn't typical and we kind of talked about it the first time that we we got together. And it's like being it it is kind of funny though. I when I talk about my story, I'll have other people say, "Well, I had something similar to that." You know, my my sister was really my mom and you know, or you know, my somebody adopted me from another family and it's just like we're not unusual. There's a lot of family stories out there and Yes. And and mine is one. And I actually didn't find out about my uh background until the end of my sixth grade year when my

[8:58]  biological mother passed away. Uh when I was born, my grandparents adopted me. And you know, back then it wasn't um right to have a single mother with a child. So to make things right and to keep the family unit together and cohesive, my grandparents adopted me. And um it it was I look back now and I always tell people as we age, you know, sometimes we can look back over our lives and gain some perspective. And um I' I've just kind of especially recently just had, you know, this light go off with looking back at my life and having

[9:47]  my grandparents adopt me and always being raised around older people. They always took me to their events. My father was a mason. We went to all of his meetings. Um I was always uh with older people. We used to get eggs from a farmer's family and grandma lived in a little house across the street. So when we would go get eggs, I would run across the street and go see grandma. Um, and I just loved being with older people. And now as I look back having that experience and being brought up with um aging parents, it's um just kind of natural for me to be connected with seniors now. Um I

[10:37]  look at every single senior as a little library. They have a library of experiences from throughout their life. And a lot of times nobody, you know, it's like you check a book out at the library. Nobody checks in with them. Nobody asks them who they were or what their stories are. And so many people have wonderful stories. And when I was working in a skilled nursing facility, um I kind of specially would ask people about their lives. We we used to have a lady that she used to fly a plane. She climbed Mount Everest to uh with her husband. They did so many wonderful things. And you look at her now, you

[11:25]  know, in the nursing home and she's in a wheelchair and she can't do very much for herself, but she had a full and exciting life. And I think we miss that. We see people as old and they they were young once and they have wonderful stories to share. So, we need to zero in. I agree. And I actually love talking to older people. Um, I used to work at I used to work for airline and I used to be, you know, that representative that you'll call and they'll talk to you. And a lot a lot of people that were calling probably were those that didn't know the computer and just some assistance. But those would be the best ones. And I'm having an hour conversation for something that took 5 10 minutes, but they're telling this story. I always love when I heard, you know, uh both husband and wife just going at it, but

[12:12]  funny in a funny way, right? But it's like, man, like as you mentioned, this is who they are and always was, but now no one's really seeing it because no one's checking in on them. So, anytime I get to come across someone um that's elderly and I see that they they just want to have a conversation, I'm always down to have a conversation because one, there's so much wisdom there, right? But the stories I'm I I love stories and I love to see how people have lived their lives and it's truly helped me. Like I've always been one of those like old souls, you know, people. So very young I had older friends that that were kind of guiding me in life. And that's where I learned so much of who I am today. That leader, you know, that that just person that cared was was that it was being

[13:00]  around those people and having those conversations. And so many people have the opportunity to also gain from it, but instead they look at someone that's in that realm of of, you know, getting old, per se, and they're just like, "Oh, they're just old." Yeah. But it's like, no, they're human. Yes. Exactly. And they have stories and they have so much to share. Yes. Absolutely. I I want We talked about something um on our first conversation and it it was about DNA, right? A lot of people use DNA test out of curiosity, but for you it really became something much deeper. What did that experience actually teach you about connection and identity? Well, you know, I did I did not know who my biological father was. And um I know I from my baby book, you know, people used to do baby

[13:50]  books. I don't know if they do them anymore, but there's like a page ripped out of my baby book. So, I had heard that my biological mother had written in there and my grandmother had ripped it out. And I don't understand why they never wanted me to know who my biological father was. But, um I w I have always been curious. Um I'm still curious. I mean, do I have any siblings out there or, you know, who knows what?

[14:18]  But um I signed up with uh Ancestry and also uh 23 and me hoping that I might be able to find something. I found maybe a third distant cousin or something um that I did reach out to that he and I shared the most DNA. Um but that's as close as I've gotten. But you know looking back at us now at everything now everything is as it should be. It has prepared me to be where I am. So I'm okay with that, you know. Yeah. I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing today if things in my life didn't follow the path that they did. So I'm agree. I'm so

[15:08]  happy and and as you said, I am blessed with that also to be able to do what I'm doing today. If the Heart and Hustle podcast has ever sparked any idea or made you think differently, do us a favor. Make sure to guys share this, post it on LinkedIn, or even text that nonprofit friend that you just have.

[15:27]  Whatever works, this is what keeps the conversation going and allows us to just grow this community together. Seriously, we appreciate you. Yeah, people ask me that all the time. How did you feel? Like mom, no, you know, you didn't know who mom was. Well, I did know who he was, but they just weren't in the in the in the picture, per se. And um you know, a lot of brothers, a lot of sisters, and I was like grateful. Like you mentioned, I'm not who I am, I don't think, without those moments in my life. Absolutely. I feel like there's a there's a there's a testimony there. Yeah. And that we get to share this with other people that may be experiencing this, right, way younger than us. Like I get to go to schools now and speak to these kids as an adoptee and say look at me. Yeah. You don't have to, you know, of course we have these questions the why me or things like that. But somebody put this in really

[16:14]  good perspective. And she says when something happens in my life I don't ask why me. I ask God how do I get through it? Just lead me through it because it it happened. There's there's no, you know, kind of going back. It's not going to you might not even get the answer. You talk about like looking for dad. Um, for me it was that mom. Um, you might not even get the answers you want. Yeah.

[16:33]  Right. It may hurt, but it's how do I get through it? And you've gotten through it. And now you're in a place where you're you're I mean, you're a great grandma, you're you're you're working now with those elderlys that need assistance from you because you understand how life really works. I think it's it's a cool place. It's a cool place to be at.

[16:53]  back in 1974 when my um my mom was very ill with cancer, my dad and I um took care of her. And that was a a period of time before hospice and before home care. Um, and we had to kind of muddle our way through trying to take care of someone who was, you know, terminal and uh try to make them comfortable when we knew nothing about how to do that. So, I can look at families today and say, I've been in your shoes. I know what it's like not to know what to do or who to call or, you know, just to be at wit's end and overburdened in a way with caregiving because it can wear on you if

[17:43]  you're not trying to take care of yourself at the same time. So, um I'm so grateful that there are services now available to help families through that process so they don't have to go it along. It's just getting that information out there to them on how to connect with the resources to make their life hopefully a little easier through the process.

[18:10]  I love it. I want to talk about the pivot that you had in your life. Um, you're leaving a skilled nursing right during COVID, which wasn't a small decision at all. No. But what pushed you to take that leap and truly bet on yourself and you know the word that I use all the time know your worth that this is where you wanted to head into?

[18:29]  It was it was a very scary time. Um, you know, it was 2020 and it was March and COVID had just hit and I'm I'm working in a skilled nursing facility and we didn't have enough masks and were um everybody is uh trying to have people make masks for them and trying to figure out what to do and we're isolating the residents in their rooms and it was just an absolute nightmare for anybody in a facility. and my husband has uh idiopathic neur neuropathy and um he's a diabetic and he has health issues. So he was talking with his two sisters and they were concerned about me. He was concerned about me um or me and what if

[19:19]  I brought something home for him? So he just came to me one day and said, "What would you think about retiring early?" Well, obviously I hadn't thought about that, but um yeah. Okay. Um, I I did I stepped back and the funny thing is the minute that I did everything for Aging Connection, the door opened wide and everything just started falling into place to start this nonprofit to be able to help people to take that networking group that I had and turn it into much more than a networking group, more of a resource for individuals looking for resources and to be able to connect them with

[20:08]  educational pieces too. Um have physicians come in and talk about different things. Um connect them with other organizations in our community whether they're for children or adults because I had a unusual case when I was working in an assisted living. We had to admit uh a lovely couple who had been taking care of their challenged son all of his life. And now he's in his 50s.

[20:39]  He's never been in a group home. He's never been, you know, to school, any kind of school or anything like that. He's just been with mom and dad. So as a facility, we had to try to help his parents find somebody or find an organization to take care of him for them. So the more you know about all the different services in the area, you never know what a family is dealing with and you want to be full service to be able to help them with whatever they're dealing with.

[21:15]  Wow. No, that that you know not even I didn't think about it but it's probably happening every single day. Yeah. You know because we have a lot of families like that. Um and you talked about you know this small group. It was something small from you know just a meeting in probably a living room to seven chapters 200 plus members. Yeah. Truly another level. I'm still blown away. Oh man.

[21:38]  Listen that it's sometimes just walking into your purpose, right? Walking into that calling and we don't know what it is. Yeah. And that's that whole thing. It's like you don't know when's your moment. So many people can become impatient, right? But look what happened. Like you said, I just left and the whole world just kind of opened up to me. Yeah. Yeah. At the right time, right, that you didn't know was going to happen. And I love those blessings like that. What's what's something people get wrong about starting a nonprofit like this? like is there a miscon misconception that you think you maybe you had or people have and that we should clear up right now on this podcast? Um it's really not difficult.

[22:16]  Some people think it's difficult. It's really not. Um there are just a few federal forms to file. There's a few state forms to file. Um, but the main thing is just having the willingness to be open to what you need to do. Uh, putting in the effort is, uh, a big thing. It's real funny. I was just working with my CPA to do our taxes, uh, business taxes for last year.

[22:47]  And in the report, you have to list your board members and, um, and your staff. Well, staff me. And then you're supposed to put in, you know, how many hours you work. And um my husband tells me, "You work more now than you did when you were actually really working." And I said, "But I am really working now, but I it's my joy and I don't feel it's working." So, you know, I'm working 40, 50 hours a week.

[23:17]  It doesn't feel like it. It because it's fun. Um, I love having those conversations with people. People call me up. I don't even know how they get my phone number, but they call me up and they have some kind of issue that they're dealing with that they need help with and I'm I'm always happy to help them and give them suggestions. So, it's I couldn't have a more fun job, you know, really. Or more that's it. Like fulfilling calling.

[23:49]  Yeah, there you go. It's not even a job. Yeah, it's not a job. It's a calling. I love it. And I love that you found that for yourself, you know, and you'll do this, you know, as so many more years until you're forced to stop for sale, right? You love it. And I'm always in the succession planning mode because I have to be, you know, I'm, you know, I'll be 71. I'm not, you know, a youngster anymore. But um I want to make sure this organization carries on and and continues to do good for our community and continues to grow because there's so much we need to do for our seniors and especially with, you know, the politics now and they're worried and they're afraid they're going to lose their

[24:37]  social security, their Medicaid. Um, some of them are are just poor people and they need help and they need to know that there's some place that they can call and that somebody will listen to them and do whatever they can to try to help them with whatever they're dealing with. I had a lady call me yesterday. Her sister has been homeless for years.

[25:03]  Um, and she said, uh, I finally talked to her the other day and I want to try to get her some help. And she wanted to know who she could call to be able to help her sister get off the streets. So, you know, you just never know what people are dealing with and having all these resources and knowing what people do is is a blessing to be able to help people truly which is the reason that we want like to highlight you know different organizations because there are so many resources out there and you know so much help you know one of the biggest things actually I remember hearing I had a sister that was adopted I I don't know her but she knows me through social media and um that's how we know each other really through social media never really met her, but younger than me, she was out on the street with a boyfriend and um she was asking me for

[25:53]  money and you know, anytime that's usually what they ask you for, right? Money. So, I'm like, um, okay. You know, I was willing to give it to her. And I had a brother that lived up in Boston that knew her more than I would know her, right? He he he was kind of grew up with her a little bit, kind of in the same area. And he tells me, he's like, "Listen, man. I know you want to help, but there's so many resources, especially for a woman. She has to go find these resources. If we continue to give her the money, she's never going to find the resources. And at that moment, I had to like, you're right. You know, there's so many people that are willing to help and instead of giving people that monetary that money, why won't we provide them with all the resources that they can actually go to? And that even happened with my brother, you know, same situation. Um, you know, he's like, "Hey, I need money." And I we obviously

[26:40]  did give him money. We put him in a hotel um for the couple of nights, but we gave him resources and says, "Hey, like these are the resources. These are the place you can go to to get back onto your feet." Now, whether people use them or not, they're they're truly out there. And we want people to to know if you have family members that are out there and needing the resources. Organizations like yours that are are are available.

[27:02]  And like you said, I'm just a call away. Yeah. You know, absolutely. Truly. You know, we have a wonderful YWCA here that takes in battered and homeless women. Uh our our center foros uh center for the homeless here. They are phenomenal. They have wonderful programs. And in fact, one of our local judges a few years back, he built a facility next to the homeless center just for veterans. Um, so whenever we have our resource fairs, I always have them come and do their uh presentation of the colors and they are veterans that live at the homeless center. Um, they can stay at the event as long as they want. I buy them lunch and thank each and every one of them for

[27:49]  their service and make sure that they have a nice time at the event. So yeah, it's I'm going to get you thinking right here, Melia. Let me get you thinking. Do you have a moment that you've seen where the community really lift each other up in a way that left you goosebumps? Oh, told you I was going to put you in the hot seat. Make you think. Yeah. You know, we have an organization here um in town. It's uh our it's called Real Services, our area on aging.

[28:23]  And each year they do a um a lunchon. Um it's a fundraising lunchon, but they recognize people in our community, mostly seniors, who have gone above and beyond to help other seniors. And every time I hear their stories, I mean, these little elderly people that are helping other people and each time you hear their story, it just takes kind of takes my breath away because their lives aren't over. They could be in their 80s and their 90s and they are still plugging away and helping other people in the community. And I just find that so in awe inspiring that they continue the work even even

[29:14]  though they're older and and they have their own stories and probably their own issues they're dealing with, they still go above and beyond and put those hours in and help those that are less fortunate. So every little story that gets told there and each person that is recognized just makes me feel humbled to be able to beautiful be in their presence and that they still care and they're still helping. Yeah, I love that. And how about every city had an aiden connection style hub? Like how would that really change the for how would that change like the world for our seniors? It would, you know, there are networking groups out there and, you know, networking g groups are great.

[30:01]  We've just taken it a few steps beyond being just a networking group. You know, we have a a digital um website where each member has a directory listing that they can put as much information in possible and make it their own. And then individuals looking for resources can go to our website to look for resources. They can search by business name. They can search by the type of services they need. Um we have educational pieces.

[30:33]  We're just getting ready to add on blogs to our uh website for educational pieces for the community. So, we want our website to be sort of first of thought to when you're looking for resources because we have so much there and it's so easy to access what you need there that um if we had something like that across the United States, just look at all the people that could be helped, you know.

[31:02]  Yeah. Amazing. No. Yeah. I love it. I tr I truly do. And you just mentioned um what the website is doing. People don't realize that uh aging care isn't the first place people think about when it comes to to tech, but you're flipping the narrative. What inspired you to even go into the digital leap, especially with our elders that sometimes feel like I don't know what I'm doing when it comes to a computer? Oh, absolutely. It was is I found this uh website. It's called um brilliant directories and they do um you know directories for different types of businesses and they're all directory kind of based and when I saw that we had another website that was just kind of a a website you know but it was hard to find information and I saw

[31:52]  this website a directorybased wow how wonderful for our members they can put as much information about their business in there. So when people are searching, they can find things and it's it was just like another light bulb goes off and you know here's a better way we can help. So whether it is a senior or if it's their loved one or a caregiver, it's a very easy way to be able to search for resources and find events. We have two different events calendars on there. We have one for special events which would be like our re resource fairs and then the other one is for all of our chapters and their meetings and members can also put their information if they're having an event at their

[32:40]  facility or they're sponsoring an educational piece. put that up there so that people can find these things and hopefully attend and and be educated on what services are available. I actually just checked out the website. It's fairly easy. Yeah, you go in there. It's very bold. It's very, you know, to the point actually. I I do love how easy you made it for those seniors to kind of just navigate the website as well. I think that's that's huge. Um I love it.

[33:10]  you know, AI and agent care, people either love it or they fear it. Yeah. Um, what excites you the most about really blending the tech with human connection? I think it's pretty cool. People think that AI, like like we just mentioned, they're fearing it of of what it could actually do and the data it takes and all these different things, but it truly is a resource and it helps so many people um stay engaged, you know, and and find things so much easier. But how how did you find that blend? Well, it's kind of interesting because I was just I'm trying to expand a little bit more in northwestern Indiana and I was speaking with a uh a newspaper. It's they have newspaper and digital and and everything and she was telling me about the new AI that is coming for them and how it can write

[33:59]  blog posts. So, I was just going to say that. Yeah. Yeah, I was just going to say that. So she says the great thing about this it she says it's a horrible word she said but it scrapes your website for information and then you put in what you want. So say I wanted uh information on paliotative care. You know it'll scrape your website for information and then it'll write the article for you. And she said the articles are wonderful. I mean and I don't have the time to do that.

[34:35]  So, I'm so excited to be able to have that option available to be able to add those things to the website where people can get more information and I don't have the staff to be able to do that. So, this is this is going to be a a game changer for people looking Yeah. When you said blogs, I was the same thing like you could really get blogs out there, you know, and share some people's stories. One of the cool things I was talking to another leader and what he does is that he sh he shares um sto so he's more in the faith-based and he wants people to share their stories on how God worked in them to kind of inspire others. Wow. And he actually takes people like myself and you that actually submit stories and based off of that he'll tweak it with AI. So

[35:21]  someone's you know he's getting people in the community to write these blogs their stories but also tweaking it to their vision and what their mission is still is. And I was like, "Wow, that is so cool." Like, there's so many different ways that AI is becoming a very uh easier for nonprofits. I'll give you another one. Yeah. Um I had a nonprofit leader tell me they're using it for grant writing. And I'm like, "Wow." Yeah. Yeah. I said, "That's exactly what I said, Val. I'm on the board of a nonprofit." And we're always talking about having a great grand writer and how much money it could cost.

[35:50]  What? Chad GPT can do this for me. Now, now we're in the space where we have to educate those in the AI world because not everyone's also on it, right? But the things that it can actually do like you mentioned and things that I've heard. Yeah. Truly is amazing. I can't wait for what it actually does in the nonprofit world. Yeah. Oh gosh. I'm going to add that to my list. Grant attitude list. Add it to the list. When I got that one, I said, I'm looking really good at the next board meeting.

[36:16]  Okay. When I bring this one up, I was just gonna say that. Oh, board. I don't We don't have to hire a grant writer. I I ask you what's been the biggest like hardest leadership lesson that you had to learn the hard way if any. Oh Lord, that I can't be everything to everybody. That is probably the biggest thing for me because I try to be I try to help everybody. I try to do everything myself. I sometimes feel like I have like a control issue on how things look and so forth, but uh I I can't do it all. And and that kind of comes with my, you know, recent thinking about succession planning that

[37:05]  I I'm not going to be here forever. I can't do everything. And that is very difficult for me to admit. And I'm sure it is for a lot of people, too. Um, we want to do everything and we want to do everything perfectly and we want it to be great, but we can't all do it by ourselves. And we have to count on those individuals that we can partner with and that we have relationships with to carry not just the organization forward, but everybody in our community forward. You know, we have to do this all together. I think I mentioned this before that we don't call our organization because we have a lot of people that do the same thing more or less with different tweaks in each business, but we don't believe in competition. We call it

[37:53]  co-opetition. And how are we saying that? Yeah. It's kind of funny because they'll say it at meetings. Don't forget we're all about co-opetition. We do. I love it. And it's wonderful but to be able to hear two organizations that maybe provide and an example would be uh maybe an assisted living. You've got an assisted living that they only take private pay and then you've got an assisted living that takes Medicaid uh waiver program. Um not everybody can afford the private pay. So they're obviously going to refer to the the Medicaid waiver program building. So they're they help each other back and forth. Or if their staff is stretched, you know, say you have a hospice agency or a home health agency and you're staff

[38:41]  is strapped, you don't have any extra. Well, punt it to one of your competitors, you know, because it's all part of that co-opetition just to make sure that individual is taken care of. That is the most important thing. And I hear my members doing that which is great. That's it's amazing. And it just you know the thing of that you mentioned on knowing I can't do it on myself that is you tapping in that's you tapping into your leadership side. Yeah because um that is true. You cannot do it everything on your own, especially when you're at the head of the table cuz now you have to look at so many other things, right? That now you're really doing admin work and it's not so much I'm out in the field as much as you are, but not as much as you would love to cuz other things got to get done. Yes. So,

[39:29]  Oh, absolutely. You know, finding people that are not just as good as us, but sometimes even better. Yeah. Right. or they different ideas and different talents which really en enhances our organization and our our mission also. So yeah, it's it's a blessing to be able to let go and um rely on other individuals who are talented too to be able to enhance uh what you're doing. I love it. We're going to start wrapping up here. Believe it or not, we've been talking almost 40 minutes. I feel like I could go on all day.

[40:05]  Stay stay. But I'm gonna ask a couple more questions before we get into the uh blind question, which I'm always so excited to kind of get into. But okay, if someone is listening and really wants to be a part of your your movement, not just this movement, what's the uh best first step they can take? Oh gosh.

[40:26]  Um, I was blessed to be able to, you know, jump from a networking group, you know, and transform that into what we have. Um, I would say anybody that has a networking group or a group of people that they converse with on a regular basis, um, it it would be easy to take that step to the next step. I'm always happy to answer questions, you know, if if people want to reach out to me. Um, I'm I'm always happy to do that, too. Um, but I think it's it's getting together like-minded people who have the same thought and um, just move it forward.

[41:07]  Just don't stop. You will have obstacles. Just don't stop. Yeah. Just keep moving. And how about for those that are caring for older loved ones? Do you have any piece of maybe wisdom or comfort that you would like to share with them today? Take care of yourself too. You can't be a good caregiver if you don't take care of yourself. That is so important. You have to whether you rely on or call on other family members or a neighbor or organizations that are out there to help you do so. Because if you wear yourself out, you can't take care of your loved one. And that's really what you want to do. You want them to be uh taken care of and loved, but you've got to take care of yourself, too. Yeah. Very important. Melina, that

[41:55]  comment you just made, you can't take you can't do, you know, you got to take care of yourself first. You can't take care of someone else if you're not fully well. And the first time I actually heard that, it could go to anywhere in life. And I know we're talking about agent parents, but for those that are watching, like one of the best things that my wife told me, I remember when I was going and I started my own nonprofit and you know, I never really told the story about being sexually abused until I met her early in my 20s. And I told her, I want to start a nonprofit. And she says, um, I think that's great, but there's no way you help others if you haven't helped yourself. Yeah. And I would always remember that and because you said it and we said it in a very different, you know, way in a different environment, but it's such a a thing we all have to remember. Yeah. That in order for you to help somebody else, Yes. in order for you to want to get

[42:42]  into, you know, working with elderly, you got to make sure that you're good mentally, physically, emotionally, some people it will say spiritually, you know. So, I like that you're not abandoning your loved one to take a few moments to take care of yourself. You're making it possible for you to be whole, to be able to take care of them. And that's very important. So, you're not abandoning them. You're you're taking care of them by taking care of yourself.

[43:11]  I love it. One more question before I get into that blind question. I know you're anticipating this right now, but Yeah. Got me a little nervous. What do you want people What do you want people to feel when they hear the words agent connections? That there's resources out there, that there are people that want to help, that it it's a community to take care of our loved ones. You know, they used to say it takes a village to raise a child.

[43:38]  Well, it takes a village also to take care of our our aging loved ones. We can't all do it by ourselves. Um, and we have to connections are important. We have to find those connections in our communities to be able to help us through the process because it's not easy. Whether you're doing it for yourself uh or you're taking care of a loved one, there are people to help. No matter where you live, there are people that can help you. And don't you're not don't feel ashamed to reach out that you need help because we're all out here waiting and willing to help. We have the resources. We have the knowledge and we just want to be there for you as you're going through whatever you're going through. Whether it's you, a caregiver,

[44:26]  loved one, it doesn't matter. We're here to help. Amazing. And for those that are watching, um before we get to that last question, where where could they find some information? What is the website? Are you guys on social media for those that may want to know more about Aging Connections? Sure. We have a web page, Aging Connections. Um, we our website is agingconnections.org for because we're a nonprofit organization. And if you have questions for me, there's a little form you can fill out there and and you know, send me a question. I'm always happy to help. Um, so yeah, it's very easy.

[45:01]  Agingconnections.org. Love it. All right, Melina, if I handed you a time machine and you can go back to give your 10-year-old self one sentence of advice, what would you say to 10-year-old Melina? Everything has a reason and you have a purpose in life. You may not know what it is now, but when the time is right, everything will open up and you will know what it is. Just be patient.

[45:37]  It's almost like you knew I was going to ask. This is you were That was such a good response and a way great way to end it. Molina, if you guys are still watching, make sure that you guys do subscribe. Make sure that you guys do like, share with a friend for those that may need these resources. We're all, as Melena mentioned earlier, we're all going to see the end of life at some point. And it's what are we doing to prepare ourselves for those moments?

[45:58]  Melena, you have been a tremendous guest here on the Heart and Hustle podcast. We want to say thank you um for what you do in the community. Thank you for this opportunity and this has been a joy. Thank you. I appreciate it, guys. Thank you guys for watching the Heart and Hustle podcast. We'll catch you guys on the next one.